Since the NCAA tournament began in earnest on Thursday, Shane Osterholt has hardly missed a
minute of it.

He has been watching on television from the leather couch in his Delaware family room, with a
bag of frozen peas close at hand.

Osterholt, 37, is recovering from the vasectomy he underwent on Thursday morning — a
deliberately scheduled appointment to allow him to spend the recommended 48-hour recovery time
absorbed in March Madness.

The peas — commonly used because they conform to the body better than ice — helped limit
swelling.

“I had the idea that, if I pretty much can do nothing for two days, the best time would be when
I could watch basketball all day,” said Osterholt, a father of two who works for a pest-control
company.

“Life doesn’t get much better than that.”

The idea didn’t originate with Osterholt: Urologists notice a significant increase in
vasectomies during the first two weeks of the tournament.

“Typically, I probably do about four a week,” said Dr. Eric Ward of Central Ohio Urology
Group.

“It will be as many as eight in a week during March Madness.”

Dr. Greg Lowe of the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University starts to see men booking
mid-March appointments for vasectomies as early as January.

“This time of year, guys come in (for vasectomies) almost — I hesitate to say it — but almost
excited,” Lowe said. “They seem to be looking forward for an excuse to be off work and sit around
and watch games.”

Some doctors capitalize on the marketing opportunity.

For the past two years, Dr. Herb Riemenschneider of Riverside Urology has run a 30-second radio
commercial touting the chance to have a doctor’s note to stay home and watch basketball.

Mike Whaley of Hilliard heard the commercial last year and made an appointment timed to the
start of the tournament.

“My wife (Jaime) had been bugging me to get a vasectomy for a couple of years,” said Whaley, 41.
“But does that sound appealing to anybody? She brought it up last year, and that ad was fresh in my
head, so I called and set it up.”

A vasectomy is described as a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that takes about 20
minutes.

Several doctors advertise it as “no needle, no scalpel.”

Patients are advised to avoid strenuous physical activity for two days.

Chad Beldon of Powell tried to schedule a vasectomy during the opening tournament week this
year, he said, but his doctor was booked.

He scheduled his a week earlier instead and watched the Big Ten tournament during his
recovery.

“I was kind of milking it a little bit with my wife (Sara),” said Beldon, 36. “I had her grab me
a beer from the fridge every now and then. That’s definitely not normal procedure.”